Oh yeah, almost forgot. Peachie X was Beta again on this. Yay! (Did forget actually. Please don't tell her...)

The Risks

Elena could clearly see that Damon was livid. Jenna was behind him, in the hall looking through the doorway. She looked afraid, not a surprise to Elena given Damon's state of rage.

Elena turned to Sarah. "I need to talk to him. Can you drop the spell around me but leave it around you?"

"He can hear you Elena."

"Still, not around me. He won't hurt me."

Sarah was uncertain, but complied. To her surprise, Damon did not move. He did continue to scowl.

"Get away from her, Elena. You don't know who she is."

"Damon, I know you're upset, but I do know about her. How did you find out?"

"Isobel."

Elena shook her head. "Then Katherine probably already knows."

"Probably," Damon said harshly. "Move away from her and I'll deal with her."

"Stop it Damon!" Elena said sharply. "You know what Bonnie did to you, Sarah is stronger."

"I don't care!" Damon spat. He would have said more, but Bonnie came through the door.

"You should. Elena is the only reason you survived." Bonnie moved to sit next to Elena.

Elena looked at Bonnie questioningly.

"Jeremy called me."

"When I saw that Isobel was upset and calling Damon." Jeremy added as he entered the room.

Damon was still glaring. "Elena, we need to talk. Away from witches and baby brothers."

Elena wanted to talk to him alone as well.

"Yes. Please guys." Elena's eyes moved to each of the witches and then found her brother. "Jer, will you take them to your room or downstairs?"

"His room," Bonnie was glaring at Damon now. "One scream will bring us back."

"Fine," Elena replied a little harsher than she intended. "Just go."

Sarah kept her eyes on Damon as she let the spell drop and followed Jeremy into the bathroom and then his room. She was amazed that Elena still seemed calm around such an angry vampire.

Elena watched them leave then turned back to the irate vampire. She patted the bed next to her. "Come closer, Damon." It took no effort to speak to him calmly, she still completely trusted him.

Damon shook his head. "I'm ready to rip someone's head off. I know better than to get too close to you when I feel like this."

The girl didn't try to hide her disappointment, but didn't push the issue. She knew that one reason she was safe around Damon was because he knew when to stay away from her. She decided to stay where she was as she talked to him.

"Sarah told me about her past, Damon. She also told me she's changed. What were you told?"

"That the vampires that attacked you wore rings from her family."

"She doesn't deny that, Damon, but she and her mom left her family, because they don't want to do that, to help vampires anymore."

Damon took a step towards her, then stopped himself. "Her aunt tried to kill you Elena – twice."

"And she saved me – twice." Elena's voice was rising now – it wasn't intentional, she was just getting caught up in Damon's tone.

"Her family kills people – people, witches and vampires!" the vampire yelled back.

"She hasn't!" Elena heard herself this time and tried to speak calmly. "Yeah, she has a past, but so do you. You've killed people, witches and vampires yourself."

"You always knew what I was!" Damon growled.

"That's not true. I didn't know about you or Stefan until long after I met you both. You kept it from me."

The vampire's anger had not left, but at least his voice was quieter. "You don't know what she's done."

"Do you? I don't know what you've done and I don't want to. I know what you are now."

Damon wasn't buying. "You don't know what she is now. You just met her."

Elena took a few deep breaths to calm herself. "Damon, please. Come and sit by me. Let's talk about this."

Damon shook his head. "Not yet. I can't be that close yet. The witch should never be that close to you again, I can't risk you like that."

"What do you want for me Damon? Do you want to lock me up so no one can get to me without your permission?"

The vampire's voice didn't falter. "Yes. That's what I want."

"I heard you tell Katherine to let me be myself. You've never stopped me from doing what she asks." Elena closed her eyes briefly. "You've always said you trusted me. Trust me now. Sarah helps me – she's not a threat to me."

The vampire's face was still hard. "It was too risky for you to be alone with the witches before and it's too risky now."

"It's risky to get in a car and drive, Damon. People die all of the time doing it – I would have if not for you. These risks are my life. You have to let me live my life."

Damon's expression was changing, though not softening. "You, not her."

Elena looked desperate now. "Damon, you once promised me you would protect her. I'm going to hold you to that."

The vampire closed his eyes and turned away from her. He moved his fist towards the wall, but held up enough to just make noise, not a hole.

"If anything happens to you because of her…"

"I know, Damon. It won't."

He moved towards the door without turning around. Elena was startled by this.

"Damon, where are you going?"

He stopped. "I don't know. I still need to rip a head off."

"Are we OK?" Elena's desperation was audible.

The vampire kept his back to her. "We are. I'm not."

"Will I see you tomorrow? Will you pick me up for school?"

Damon consciously calmed his voice to reply "Yes" as he moved through the door. He quickly picked up speed to go through the house and into the street. He stopped close enough to Elena's house that he could still see Isobel on the porch. He took a few breaths, wondering why he was trying to calm himself while deciding what to do next.

Not One of Us

Bonnie and Jeremy were both staring at Sarah. Sarah had to avert her eyes. Telling Elena's friends and family about her past hadn't been any easier than telling Elena.

"You made mistakes, but you've learned."

Sarah's eyes moved to Jeremy as he spoke. "Yes. I was too young to really understand. I never liked it, but it's the past. I try to do good now."

"I trusted you with my best friend. If I had known..." Bonnie didn't finish.

"She can't change the past, Bonnie." Jeremy interjected. "You've made mistakes too."

Sarah gave Jeremy a grateful smile. "I just want to help Elena, and stop whoever killed my neighbor."

Bonnie stared at the other witch. "Damon, Katherine and me. We will fight over who gets to kill you if anything happens to Elena because of you."

Sarah's face hardened. "Yeah, I'm not stupid. I picked up on that a long time ago."

"Bonnie, she's on our side. She'll help us figure out who's after Elena."

"Us?" Bonnie's face showed her disbelief as she turned to look at Elena's brother. "Since when are you part of us?"

Determination showed on his face. "I'm not letting anyone hurt Elena. I'm going to help find whoever it is that did."

"The ones that did are dead!" Bonnie replied harshly.

"What can you do?" Sarah asked Jeremy quickly. "Do you have some kind of gift or power?"

Jeremy smiled at her. He held up the hand that wore the ring and moved it to where she could see it, pointing at the ring with his other hand. Then he moved his finger to point to his head.

"You've got to be kidding me," Bonnie said. "You're not going anywhere near any of this."

"Elena goes, and she doesn't have a ring."

"She doesn't want you anywhere near this!" the witch yelled back.

"Bonnie, she'll hear you," Sarah said softly. That made them all stop talking and listen for a few seconds.

They had all heard Damon's voice before, they all noticed it was silent now.

Bonnie left and went through the bathroom door immediately, followed by the others. She stopped short when she saw Elena curled up on her side on the bed, tears in her eyes.

"Elena," Bonnie said softly as she climbed onto the bed, facing Elena and pulling her into a hug. "What happened?"

"I don't know." Elena's voice was soft, almost a whisper. "Damon's so upset."

Bonnie looked at Sarah and Jeremy who were standing at the side of the bed now. "At you?"

She felt the slight shake of Elena's head. "Not at me. He's worried about me. I don't know what he'll do."

A few things ran through Bonnie's mind about what Damon had done before, but she wasn't going to mention them to her friend. She controlled herself and tried to be comforting as she whispered "It'll be OK, Elena. Everything will be OK."

Unprotected

Isobel heard Damon coming towards the door and saw him go through it as she moved out of the way. She didn't try to stop him.

The other vampires had left the Gilbert yard when Damon entered the house. It was their protocol, she didn't interfere. They would be next to her immediately if she needed it. She was just glad Damon was in there with the witch. Actually, she was glad when Bonnie arrived. If they saw eye to eye on nothing else, she knew Bonnie would protect her daughter.

She was about to call the other vampires to close in on the house after Damon left when a commotion came to her attention from where one of the vampires were. Isobel moved immediately towards him. It took almost no time to reach him, he had been close.

When the vampire did reach him, she realized she had been concentrating on what was happening in the house while trouble was brewing outside. Isobel pulled out her phone, pressed a speed dial and held onto it until she was caught up in the fray.

All three of the other vampires who were with her watching Elena's house were there, though two were lying on the ground – dead or disabled. Isobel moved to the join the other who was fighting for his life.

They were fighting a vampire and he was strong, as strong as any Isobel had ever fought.

There were two other figures nearby, though she didn't know what they were. One or both of them had started speaking when the vampire she was fighting snarled at them. "No! She is unprotected. Go to her now, bring her back."

Isobel turned to follow them, but was immediately struck. Elena's mother had to stay and fight, hoping the phone would bring the needed help.